2/6: From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China (1980)

To close out the second week, Day #14, of my 34 Days of Oscar I saw "From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China". This movie won the 1981 Academy Award for Best Feature Documentary.

"From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China" is a documentary that follows the world famous violinist and music teacher Isaac Stern when in 1979 he was invited to China. Stern was to be the first American musician to collaborate with China's Central Symphony. He put on several performances (the above clip is from one of those) and introduced "western" music for the first time to many Chinese people. This is only 7 years after Nixon became the first sitting president to visit mainland China. In the time of Chairman Mao in the 60's, all outside music influences (Mozart, Bach, Schubert) were banned and people were jailed for performing them. During his visit, Stern introduced the "western" style of instrument playing to many of the Chinese students as he discovered that most were playing more mechanical and stiff. Stern also got to visit several different conservatories of Music, the Peking Opera rehearsals, a sports training academy and other entertainment venues during his time in China. The majority of his time visiting the music conservatories, he spends teaching the younger students small nuances of playing a string instrument. He has a lot of enthusiasm for playing music and he likes to pass it along to whomever listens.

I found "From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China" to be a lot more boring than it should have been. I can only guess that the pickings were slim the year it won for Best Feature Documentary. I would have loved to hear more from Stern about his impressions during this trip, but instead we are treated a very boring voice over that barely describes what is obvious, let alone what is happening behind the scenes in this historic trip. There are interesting stories being told here, the music being performed is beautiful to hear and there are amazing cultural performances to see as well.

I give "From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China" 1.5 out of 5 stars. I was so bored with the presentation of this movie that the hour and a half running time felt more like three hours. There was a lot more they could have done better and without having a in-depth Isaac Stern interview we are left wondering what he was feeling during this historic trip. This documentary was one big missed opportunity that sadly we will never get again.